Reenforced-concrete construction



March l 8 s. MUNsoN REENFORCED CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION Filed April 17 1.920 3 Sheets-Sheet l lx lli {MIl Illuolll March 18, 1924.

1,48 7?@21 L. S. MUNSCN I REENFORCED CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION Filed April 17 1.920 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 18 1924. i

L. S. MUNSON REBNFORCED CONCRETE 'CONSTRUCT ION Filed April 17 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 mor t uw@ Mmmm MP1,

Patented Mar. 18, 1924.

U N I T il s ATES LUTHER S. MUNSON, 0F WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OFl COLUMBIA.

REENFORCED-CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION.

Application ledApril 17, 1920. Serial No. 374,722.

To all whom it 'may concern.'

Be it known that I, LUTHERv S. MUNsoN, a citizen of the Unitedl States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvemenlts in Reenforced-Concrete Construction; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention relates to improvements in reenforced concrete construct-ion, and especially relates to such construction as is intended to be used in'construlctions located on or near water fronts or in other locations where there is considerablewater in the soil lthough other uses will readily suggest themselves yto those skilled in the art.

The invention is rimarily intended to provide a concrete pile arrangement intended for use in piers,`wharves, sea walls, shore protection, and foundations used in connection therewith and its primary purpose is to provide means whereby the constituent parts of| such structure may be so bound together as to make the structure itself when completed practically monolithic.

The invention includes, amongst other fea# tures, the providing of a hollow shell made of reenforced concrete of a lhigh degree of density and consequently of a comparatively rich or expensive nature, and filling int-o the' shell so formed a sustaining core of a leaner mixture preferably composed of a less proportion of cement and a greater proportion of sand, gravel, or crushed roc-k. The shell vis formed by p-lastering or shooting the concrete on a form of predetermined shape, which form is ordinarily Vmade of expanded metal lath, whose use is well known in the reenforced concrete art.

This concrete is appliedv only from the exterior of the lath, and is applied insuch thickness as to efl'ectu-ally cover the metal lath embedded therein, and to form a wall which is practically impervious to water. Such walls may be of two, three or more inches in thickne, but I have found in practice that a wall lof three inches will prove abundantly thick to protect .the reinfoa'cing metal from the action :of salt water.

In addition tothe metal lath just referred to, additional reinforcing mea'ns may be provided, such, for instance, as rods, bars, wire wrapping, or the like, all of which are well known in the art.

In any event it is essential that thisreinforcing metal should be effectually protected from the access of salt water where the structure is used adjacent to salt water fronts, and this is secured by having the concrete applied to the metal reinforce of great richness and density.

This concrete shell, which may be tubular, or rectangular, or of other suitable shape, maybe transported to the place where vit is intended to be used and there mounted in position, and the core filled in, as will be hereinafter described. In addition to filling in the core, it is frequently desirable to mount the hollow shells over pre-arran ed wooden piling driven into earth foundatlon on which the concrete structure' is tobe built. This additional piling provides an additionallbearing where the structure is to be built over any soft foundation, such as mud, sand, or the like.

Instead of a single pile, a plurality of piles may be used to support any given mass of concrete, as will be hereinafter more fully described. The present invention relates more especially to an improved reenforced concrete wall composedbf a lurality of pillars or piles connected toget er by concrete while in the semi-fluid or plastic state to form a substantially monolithic structure.

My invention will .be more fully understood after reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are'indicated by similar reference symbols throughout the several views, andin which Figure 1 shows a section .through a ma- 95 rine lterminal construction, in which there is an open wharf with a platform carried thereby, and a fill provided with a retaining wall and supports for buildings.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the construction of the retaining wall made of sheet piling of the character herein described, parts being shown broken away.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the sheet piling arrangement shown in Figure 2, but on a somewhat smaller scale, one of the hollow piles being shown as unfilled.

Figure 4 is a modification showing a wharf in which wooden piles are used in an earth fill, but the piles-and the fill are protected by reenforced concrete sheet piling One of these edges is made convex, as at a', and the other concave, as at a?, so that by which l accomplish this result, otherv 'the two fit snugly together and form to all intents and purposes a tongue and groove or interlocking construction.. These reenforced concrete shells, as shown in .Figv ure 2, comprise the expanded metal lath 13 and the rods C, which rods are held together by tie wires lD.v

The wall E of cement of great richness and correspondingdensity is either applied by plastering, or is blown on with al gun,

Vand hereinafter will be known -under the.

technical term of guncrete Where used as a retaining wall or interlocking piling, the shells are preferably made interlocking, as shown, but they` may be made'of cylindrical construction, or of anypreferred construction, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

' One of the purposes of my invention is to provide a wall in which the several parts are so joined to each other as to make the Wallpractically monolithic Aand/impervious to the destructive actionrof the salt water. In Figs. 2 and'3, l have shown one method methods will readily suggest. the selves to the skilled Workman. As shown preferably provide sealing holes F of suflicent size to permit part of the concrete filling that is cured into the hollow pile, when it is in place, to flow from one pile to another and harden, andthus form a substantially tight joint between the adjacent piles of the wall. As these holes F are preferably located about three feet apart', it can readily be seen that the concrete flowing from one pi e to another, filling the holes and hardening, makes a water tight joint, binding the piles securely together, and forming a practically monolithic sheet pile wall.

rlhe hollow piles are transported from the place of construction to the place of use in any convenient way, and are then set up in position in the usual well known way. Where they are to' be mounted on soft ground, it will be cheaper and more convvenient to drive into the ground a series of wooden piles G with their heads sd arranged .that their heads, when the pile is driven to the desired depth, will project into the open bottom of the hollow concrete pile. After the abutting concrete piles are in place, the concrete core, made of a acercan leaner mixture, is poured in, using the well known Tremie process by which water is excluded from mixing with the concrete as it is poured in. The concrete, after setting, forms a core engaging the head of the wooden pile and completely fills the cavity in the hollow shell; the whole forming a composite pile with a wooden shoe and a heavyv reenforced concrete body portion; the latter comprising a heavy core of a lean mixture of concrete, and a rich, dense and' impervious shell made of richer concrete containing the reenforced metal.

The concrete setting also ties the piles together, forming the substantially monolithic wall already described.

' A retaining Wall made up of piles of the construction hereinbefore described is shown in section in Figures l, 3, and 4, in perspective in Figure 2, and. in plan in Figure 5.

lf it be desired to use, the reinforced concrete construction to sustain heavy weights on soft earth, the bottolnof the concrete body portion of the pile may be expanded, as shown to the right of Figure 1, in which the wall A1 rests upon a still wider wall A2, -and it in turn rests upon a still larger wall A3, which latter rest's upon a plurality of wooden piles G, instead of upon asingle pile. In such construction the outer shell of the several pairs of piles containing the wall may be built up of the reenforced concrete construction described in detail with reference to Figure 2.

The bottoms of these reenforced concrete piles are preferably provided with cutting edges c so as to cut into the soft'earth in which the piles are ordinarily used, but these cutting edges also serve as guides to engage the wooden piles G.

In the structure shown to the left of Fig. 1, I have provided braces l and ties K which connect together the supporting piles A4 for the wharf structure and connect these piles and this structure to the retaining wall.

Un top of the open reenforced concrete structure shown in Figure l, I may provide a suitable platform of any character, such as the conc-rete beams M supporting the longitudinal beams N carrying the cross tics 0 on which the rails P are mounted, and the whole top of the platform may be covered y with a concrete floor R. In Figure 1, l have also shown a crane or gantry rail S, mounted on the gantry bea-m T, and the outer edge of the wharf may be protected by fender piles, U, preferably made of wood. or other suitable material. l have also shown the mooring bit V mounted onythe licor R.

On the linterior )art of the structure shown in Figure 1-, may cont-inne the concrete Hoor as at Rf, and suitable columns W may be mounted to support any desired form of building structure, not shown.

In the modification shown in Figures a and 5, the wall A made of reenforced concrete sheet piling, preferably of the character shown in Figure 2, is provided, inside of which is the earth lling X into which the wooden piles Gr are driven, which p iles are; preferably mounted in rows as shown in` Figure 5, to support the concrete beams Y over Which is laid the platform Z of wood or other material, and above which is an earth illing X carrying the cross ties- O on which the rails P are mounted. In this case the gantry rail S is supported directly upon the retaining wall A.

In the construction shown in Figs. 4 and 5, fenders U may be used similar to those already described in connection with Figure l.

It will -be noted that in the hereinbefore described construction, I provide a comparatively light hollow shell made of reenforced concrete which may be conveniently transported from the place of manufacture to the place of use, and which is stiff enough to stand up under handling and in transport, and which struct-ure may be then mounted-in place, but without the heavy core which is subsequently lled in. After this structure is mounted in place,the core made of lea-ner concrete is poured in which constitutes by far the greater weight of the body, and Athis core serves not only as an anchor to the entire mass, but.it serves also as greatly increasing the strength of the structure, rendering 1t practicall incompressible; and it also serves as a loc 'ng means for connecting the pile to the braces and ties, each tie forming with its braceand pile a substantially monolithic structure, and the several ties being connected together inl-such a way as to form of the entire structure an. extremely strong, rigid, cheap and durable arrangement. y

By having the'piles formed hollow and mounted over one or more supporting Wooden piles, the light hollow piles may be more conveniently mounted in place and then when the'J concrete core is poured in, this core, when it has set, vforms a unitary structure in Which'the wooden pile serves as a foot or ferrule rigidly' attached to the mass of concrete above and protects the head of the wooden pile from rot or borers.

The bodyportion of the wooden pile will be driven so deep in the earth that it will be in a large measure protected against destructive elements and would then become ypractically indestructible, as will be evident from the borings in alluvial regions Where perfectly sound logs have been .found embedded in silt, and where they have remained in a perfectly preserved condition for ages.

Amongst the advantages hereinbefore described may be briefly stated that the metal reenforcingis protectedv against deterioration by the impervious Wall of rich concrete in which it is embedded., and that they woodenpiling which forms a. support is also protected at its headby being embedded in the concrete, and lower down by being embedded in such a dept-hof earth as not to be subject to normal decay.

By using the wooden piling for feet instead of the single continuous concrete pile, great saving in weight of concrete` is secured, and consequent saving in cost, the reenforced concrete being more expensive to install than the wood.

It will be obvious that various modifications might be made in the herein described, construction, and in the combination and arrangement of parts which could be used without departing from the spirit of my -invention; and I do not mean tolimit the invention to such details `except as particularl pointed out in the claims.

aving thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A reen'forced concrete wall comprising a series of contiguous piles, each formed of a' reenforced hollow shell provided with openings registering with the openings ot' the adjacent pile' when in the assemble-d relation, and with a monolithic concrete mass filling the central portions of adjacent piles and projecting from one pile to an other through said openings and forming a concrete vbond tying said piles together, the whole forming a substantially monolithic structure. f

2. A reenforced concrete wall .comprising a series of contiguous iles having their engaging faces respectivlly V-shaped and wedge-shaped so as to interlock, each pile being formed of a reenforcedhollow shell provided with openingsv registering with the openings of the adjacent pile when in the assembled relation, and with a monfilling the central' portions of adjacent piles and projecting from one pile to another through said openings and formin a concrete bond tying said piles toget er, the

whole vforming a substantially monolithic structure. V

4. A reenforced concrete wall for use 1n Wherves, comprising a series oi:A contiguous piles heving their engaging faces respective ly Veliaped and Wedge-shaped so as to interlock, each pile being formed of e reen-- forced hollow shell olf concrete impervious to water and provided with openings registering with the openings of the adjacent pile when in the assembled relation, and with a monolithic concrete mass of cheaper concrete lilling the central portions ,of adjacent piles and projecting from one pile to another through said openings and forming a concrete bond tying said piles together, the whole forming a substantially monolithic structure,

The method of constrcting ieeniorced concrete walls which consists in providing a series or' hollow piles made of reenorcedv concrete and provided with edges ladapted to register with each other, with perforations in the contiguous edges of adjacent piles, mounting said hollow pilesl in place with the perforations on adjacent piles registering, and then pouring plastic concrete into said hollow piles allowing itl to liow from one pile to the other through said perforations, and lalso to fill in any interstices between the contiguous'edges of the adjacent piles, and to form when set a substantially monolithic structurev 6. The method of constructing reenfcrced concrete Walls for use in marine construction, which consists in providing a series or' hollow piles made of reeniorced concrete impervious to water and provided with inermi edges adapted to register with each other, with peri-mations in the contiguous edges of adjacent piles, mounting said hollow piles in place with the peritorations on edjacent piles registering, and then pouring cheaper plastic concrete into seid hollow' piles allowing it to flow from one pile to the other through seid perforations, and also to hll in any interstices between the contiguous edges oit the adjncent piles, and to lorm when set a substantially monolithic structure,

7. A. wall for vWater fronts including plastic nested shells impervious to Water and each equipped with a iller which extends into adjacent shells to hond the shells together as aunit.

S. twall for Water fronts including hollow independent elements impervious to water and of complementari design to interlit and provide at substantially monolithic uniplanar wall.

9. A method of' making walls for water fronts consisting in forming tubular bodies of plastic materials impervious to water and making perl'oreticus therein at predetermined intervals, then 4nestintfg'the bodies to gether so as to bring said perforations into register, alter which a iller is deposited intoV saidbodies and permitted to tlow through said perforations from one body to another and allowed to harden for uniting said bodiesb LUTHER Si. MUNSUN. 

